Advertisement opportunity trading system, advertisement opportunity trading method, and recording medium

Abstract

An advertisement of a sponsor is distributed on an advertisement opportunity after a trade for the advertisement opportunity is settled. The present invention comprises an advertisement data reception unit which receives advertisement data which a sponsor wants to distribute on an advertisement opportunity, an advertisement opportunity reception unit which receives au advertisement opportunity offered by media, a distribution accepting unit which receives information representing that distribution of the advertisement data is appropriate/inappropriate from the media when the sponsor selects the advertisement opportunity received by the advertisement opportunity reception unit for distributing the advertisement data received by the advertisement data reception unit, and accepts an application for distribution of the advertisement data from the sponsor when the information from the media represents that distribution is appropriate, and a trade process unit which performs a process for trading the advertisement opportunity in accordance with the application accepted by the distribution accepting unit.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An advertisement opportunity trading system which communicates a terminal of a sponsor of an advertisement and a terminal of media who distributes an advertisement with each other via a communication network, in order to intermediate between the sponsor and the media for facilitating a trade for an advertisement opportunity offered by the media, said system comprising: 
 an advertisement data reception unit which receives advertisement data from a sponsor who wants the advertisement data to be distributed on an advertisement opportunity;    an advertisement opportunity reception unit which receives an advertisement opportunity offered by media;    a distribution accepting unit which receives information representing that distribution of the advertisement data is appropriate/inappropriate from the media when the sponsor selects the advertisement opportunity received by said advertisement opportunity reception unit for distributing the advertisement data received by said advertisement data reception unit, and accepts an application for distribution of the advertisement data from the sponsor when determined that the information from the media represents that distribution is appropriate; and    a trade process unit which performs a process for trading the advertisement opportunity based on the application accepted by said distribution accepting unit.    
     
     
         2 . The advertisement opportunity trading system according to  claim 1 , wherein in a case where said distribution accepting unit accepts applications for distribution of advertisement data from a plurality of sponsors for a same advertisement opportunity, said trade process unit puts up the advertisement opportunity for auction.  
     
     
         3 . The advertisement opportunity trading system according to  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 an advertisement data registration unit which registers the advertisement data received by said advertisement data reception unit;    an advertisement opportunity registration unit which registers the advertisement opportunity received by said advertisement opportunity reception unit; and    an advertisement opportunity publicizing unit which publicizes information on the advertisement opportunity registered in said advertisement opportunity registration unit via said communication network,    wherein said distribution accepting unit accepts an application for distribution of the advertisement data registered in said advertisement data registration unit from the sponsor.    
     
     
         4 . The advertisement opportunity trading system according to  claim 3 , wherein: 
 a plurality of advertisement data can be registered by a sponsor in said advertisement data registration unit for one advertisement opportunity; and    in a case where the media determines that the plurality of advertisement data of the sponsor are appropriate for distribution on the one advertisement opportunity, said distribution accepting unit accepts an application for distribution of one advertisement data designated by the sponsor from the plurality of advertisement data, as one to be actually distributed.    
     
     
         5 . The advertisement opportunity trading system according to  claim 4 , wherein said advertisement data reception unit changes the advertisement data designated by the sponsor as one to be actually distributed with another advertisement data among the plurality of advertisement data in accordance with an instruction from the sponsor.  
     
     
         6 . The advertisement opportunity trading system according to  claim 1 , wherein: 
 said advertisement data reception unit receives a genre of the advertisement data;    said advertisement opportunity reception unit receives a prohibited genre for designating a genre which will not be distributed on the advertisement opportunity; and    said system further comprises an advertisement data check unit which checks whether the genre of the advertisement data distribution of which on the advertisement opportunity the sponsor applies for corresponds to the prohibited genre or not, and notifies a result of checking to the media.    
     
     
         7 . The advertisement opportunity trading system according to  claim 3 , wherein: 
 said advertisement data registration unit registers a genre of the advertisement data;    said advertisement opportunity registration unit registers a prohibited genre for designating a genre which will not be distributed on the advertisement opportunity; and    said system further comprises are advertisement data check unit which checks whether the genre of the advertisement data distribution of which on the advertisement opportunity the sponsor applies for corresponds to the prohibited genre or not, and notifies a result of checking to the media.    
     
     
         8 . The advertisement opportunity trading system according to  claim 1 , further comprising a competition check unit which checks whether a plurality of sponsors compete in a same business category or not in a case where said distribution accepting unit accepts applications for distribution of advertisement data from the plurality of sponsors for one advertisement opportunity, wherein: 
 said competition check unit checks whether or not competition exists among the plurality of sponsors by a business category of the sponsor; and    said trade process unit permits an application for distribution of advertisement data on the advertisement opportunity from only one sponsor for each business category among the plurality of sponsors, in a case where competition among the plurality of sponsors is detected by checking of said competition check unit.    
     
     
         9 . The advertisement opportunity trading system according to  claim 3 , further comprising a competition check unit which checks whether a plurality of sponsors compete in a same business category or not in a case where said distribution accepting unit accepts applications for distribution of advertisement data from the plurality of sponsors for one advertisement opportunity, wherein: 
 said competition check unit checks whether or not competition exists among the plurality of sponsors by a business category of the sponsor; and    said trade process unit permits an application for distribution of advertisement data on the advertisement opportunity from only one sponsor for each business category among the plurality of sponsors, in a case where competition among the plurality of sponsors is detected by checking of said competition check unit.    
     
     
         10 . The advertisement opportunity trading system according to  claim 1 , further comprising an advertisement data mirroring unit which transmits advertisement data which is determined as appropriate for distribution by the media to an advertisement distribution controller which performs distribution of advertisement data, wherein: 
 said advertisement data mirroring unit transmits the advertisement data to said advertisement (distribution controller before a trade for an advertisement opportunity is started by said trade process unit; and    said advertisement distribution controller stores the transmitted advertisement data, and performs distribution of the stored advertisement data which is to be distributed on an advertisement opportunity, in a case where a contract for the advertisement opportunity is settled.    
     
     
         11 . The advertisement opportunity trading system according to  claim 3 , further comprising an advertisement data mirroring unit which transmits advertisement data which is determined as appropriate for distribution by the media to an advertisement distribution controller which performs distribution of advertisement data, wherein: 
 said advertisement data mirroring unit transmits the advertisement data to said advertisement distribution controller before a trade for an advertisement opportunity is started by said trade process unit; and    said advertisement distribution controller stores the transmitted advertisement data, and performs distribution of the stored advertisement data which is to be distributed on an advertisement opportunity, in a case where a contract for the advertisement opportunity is settled.    
     
     
         12 . A market control server which is a server apparatus for communicating a terminal of a sponsor of an advertisement and a terminal of media who distributes an advertisement with each other via a communication network, in order to intermediate between the sponsor and the media for facilitating a trade for an advertisement opportunity offered by the media, said server comprising: 
 an advertisement data reception unit which receives advertisement data from a sponsor who wants the advertisement data to be distributed on an advertisement opportunity;    an advertisement opportunity reception unit which receives an advertisement opportunity offered by media;    a distribution accepting unit which receives information representing that distribution of the advertisement data is appropriate/inappropriate from the media when the sponsor selects the advertisement opportunity received by said advertisement opportunity reception unit for distributing the advertisement data received by said advertisement data reception unit, and accepts an application for distribution of the advertisement data from the sponsor when determined that the information from the media represents that distribution in appropriate; and    a trade process unit which performs a process for trading the advertisement opportunity based on the application accepted by said distribution accepting unit.    
     
     
         13 . The market control server according to  claim 12 , wherein in a case where said distribution accepting unit accepts applications for distribution of advertisement data from a plurality of sponsors for a same advertisement opportunity, said trade process unit puts up the advertisement opportunity for auction.  
     
     
         14 . The market control server according to  claim 12 , further comprising: 
 an advertisement data registration unit which registers the advertisement data received by said advertisement data reception unit;    an advertisement opportunity registration unit which registers the advertisement opportunity received by said advertisement opportunity reception unit; and    an advertisement opportunity publicizing unit which publicizes information on the advertisement opportunity registered in said advertisement opportunity registration unit via said communication network,    wherein said distribution accepting unit accepts an application for distribution of the advertisement data registered in said advertisement data registration unit from the sponsor.    
     
     
         15 . The market control server according to  claim 14 , wherein: 
 a plurality of advertisement data can be registered by a sponsor in said advertisement data registration unit for one advertisement opportunity; and    in a case where the media determines that the plurality of advertisement data of the sponsor are appropriate for distribution on the one advertisement opportunity, said distribution accepting unit accepts an application for distribution of one advertisement data designated by the sponsor from the plurality of advertisement data, as one to be actually distributed.    
     
     
         16 . The market control server according to  claim 15 , wherein said advertisement data reception unit changes the advertisement data designated by the sponsor as one to be actually distributed with another advertisement data among the plurality of advertisement data in accordance with an instruction from the sponsor.  
     
     
         17 . The market control server according to  claim 12 , wherein: 
 said advertisement data reception unit receives a genre of the advertisement data;    said advertisement opportunity reception unit receives a prohibited genre for designating a genre which will not be distributed on the advertisement opportunity; and    said server further comprises an advertisement data check unit which checks whether the genre of the advertisement data distribution of which on the advertisement opportunity the sponsor applies for corresponds to the prohibited genre or not, and notifies a result of checking to the media.    
     
     
         18 . The market control server according to  claim 14 , wherein: 
 said advertisement data registration unit registers a genre of the advertisement data;    said advertisement opportunity registration unit registers a prohibited genre for designating a genre which will not be distributed on the advertisement opportunity; and    said system further comprises an advertisement data check unit which checks whether the genre of the advertisement data distribution of which on the advertisement opportunity the sponsor applies for corresponds to the prohibited genre or not, and notifies a result of checking to the media.    
     
     
         19 . The market control server according to  claim 12 , further comprising a competition check unit which checks whether a plurality of sponsors compete in a same business category or not in a case where said distribution accepting unit accepts applications for distribution of advertisement data from the plurality of sponsors for one advertisement opportunity, wherein: 
 said competition check unit checks whether or not competition exists among the plurality of sponsors by a business category of the sponsor; and    said trade process unit permits an application for distribution of advertisement data on the advertisement opportunity from only one sponsor for each business category among the plurality of sponsors, in a case where competition among the plurality of sponsors is detected by checking of said competition check unit.    
     
     
         20 . The market control server according to  claim 14 , further comprising a competition check unit which checks whether a plurality of sponsors compete in a same business category or not in a case where said distribution accepting unit accepts applications for distribution of advertisement data from the plurality of sponsors for one advertisement opportunity, wherein: 
 said competition check unit checks whether or not competition exists among the plurality of sponsors by a business category of the sponsor; and    said trade process unit permits an application for distribution of advertisement data on the advertisement opportunity from only one sponsor for each business category among the plurality of sponsors, in a case where competition among the plurality of sponsors is detected by checking of said competition check unit.    
     
     
         21 . The market control server according to  claim 12 , further comprising an advertisement data mirroring unit which transmits advertisement data which is determined as appropriate for distribution by the media to an advertisement distribution controller which performs distribution of advertisement data, wherein: 
 said advertisement data mirroring unit transmits the advertisement data to said advertisement distribution controller before a trade for an advertisement opportunity is started by said trade process unit; and    said advertisement distribution controller stores the transmitted advertisement data, and performs distribution of the stored advertisement data which is to be distributed on an advertisement opportunity, in a case where a contract for the advertisement opportunity is settled.    
     
     
         22 . The market control server according to  claim 14 , further comprising an advertisement data mirroring unit which transmits advertisement data which is determined as appropriate for distribution by the media to an advertisement distribution controller which performs distribution of advertisement data, wherein: 
 said advertisement data mirroring unit transmits the advertisement data to said advertisement distribution controller before a trade for an advertisement opportunity is started by said trade process unit; and    said advertisement distribution controller stores the transmitted advertisement data, and performs distribution of the store advertisement data, which is to be distributed on an advertisement opportunity, in a case where a contract for the advertisement opportunity is settled.    
     
     
         23 . An advertisement opportunity trading method for communicating a terminal of a sponsor of an advertisement and a terminal of media who distributes an advertisement with each other via a communication network, in order to intermediate between the sponsor and the media for facilitating a trade for an advertisement opportunity offered by the media, said method comprising: 
 receiving advertisement data from a sponsor who wants the advertisement data to be distributed on an advertisement opportunity;    receiving an advertisement opportunity offered by media;    receiving information representing that distribution of the advertisement data is appropriate/inappropriate from the media when the sponsor selects the advertisement opportunity received in said receiving an advertisement opportunity for distributing the advertisement data received in said receiving advertisement data, and accepting an application for distribution of the advertisement data from the sponsor when determined that the information from the media represents that distribution is appropriate; and    performing a trading process for trading the advertisement opportunity based on the application accepted in said receiving information and accepting an application.    
     
     
         24 . The advertisement opportunity trading method according to  claim 23 , wherein in a case where applications for distribution of advertisement data from a plurality of sponsors are accepted in said receiving information and accepting an application for a same advertisement opportunity, the advertisement opportunity is put up for auction in said performing a trading process.  
     
     
         25 . The advertisement opportunity trading method according to  claim 23 , further comprising: 
 registering the advertisement data received in said receiving advertisement data;    registering the advertisement opportunity received in said receiving an advertisement opportunity; and    publicizing information on the advertisement opportunity registered in said registering the advertisement opportunity via said communication network,    wherein an application for distribution of the advertisement data registered in said registering the advertisement data is accepted from the sponsor in said receiving information and accepting an application.    
     
     
         26 . The advertisement opportunity trading method according to  claim 25 , wherein: 
 a plurality of advertisement data can be registered by a sponsor in said registering the advertisement data for one advertisement opportunity; and    in a case where the media determines that the plurality of advertisement data of the sponsor are appropriate for distribution on the one advertisement opportunity, an application for distribution of one advertisement data designated by the sponsor from the plurality of advertisement data is accepted as one to be actually distributed in said receiving information and accepting an application.    
     
     
         27 . The advertisement opportunity trading method according to  claim 26 , wherein the advertisement data designated by the sponsor as one to be actually distributed is changed with another advertisement data among the plurality of advertisement data in accordance with an instruction from the sponsor in said receiving advertisement data.  
     
     
         28 . The advertisement opportunity trading method according to  claim 23 , wherein: 
 a genre of the advertisement data is received in said receiving advertisement data;    a prohibited genre for designating a genre which will not be distributed on the advertisement opportunity is received in said receiving an advertisement opportunity; and    said method further comprises checking whether the genre of the advertisement data distribution of which on the advertisement opportunity the sponsor applies for corresponds to the prohibited genre or not, and notifying a result of checking to the media.    
     
     
         29 . The advertisement opportunity trading method according to  claim 25 , wherein: 
 a genre of the advertisement data is registered in said registering the advertisement data;    a prohibited genre for designating a genre which will not be distributed on the advertisement opportunity is registered in said registering the advertisement opportunity; and    said method further comprises checking whether the genre of the advertisement data distribution of which on the advertisement opportunity the sponsor applies for corresponds to the prohibited genre or not, and notifying a result of checking to the media.    
     
     
         30 . The advertisement opportunity trading method according to  claim 23 , further comprising checking whether a plurality of sponsors compete in a same business category or not in a case where applications for distribution of advertisement data from the plurality of sponsor are accepted in said receiving information and accepting an application for one advertisement opportunity, wherein: 
 whether or not competition exists among the plurality of sponsors is checked by a business category of the sponsor in said checking; and    an application for distribution of advertisement data on the advertisement opportunity from only one sponsor for each business category among the plurality of sponsors is permitted in said performing a trading process, in a case where competition among the plurality of sponsors is detected in said checking.    
     
     
         31 . The advertisement opportunity trading method according to  claim 25 , further comprising checking whether a plurality of sponsors compete in a same business category or not in a case where applications for distribution of advertisement data from the plurality of sponsors are accepted in said receiving information and accepting an application for one advertisement opportunity, wherein: 
 whether or not competition exists among the plurality of sponsors is checked by a business category of the sponsor in said checking; and    an application for distribution of advertisement data on the advertisement opportunity from only one sponsor for each business category among the plurality of sponsors is permitted in said performing a trading process, in a case where competition among the plurality of sponsors is detected in said checking.    
     
     
         32 . The advertising opportunity trading method according to  claim 23 , further comprising transmitting advertisement data which is determined as appropriate for distribution by the media to an advertisement distribution controller which performs distribution of advertisement data for mirroring purpose, wherein: 
 the advertisement data is transmitted to said advertisement distribution controller in said transmitting advertisement data before a trade for an advertisement opportunity is started in said performing a trading process; and    the advertisement data is stored in said advertisement distribution controller and is to be distributed on an advertisement opportunity by said advertisement distribution controller, in a case where a contract for the advertisement opportunity is settled.    
     
     
         33 . The advertisement opportunity trading method according to  claim 25 , further comprising transmitting advertisement data which is determined as appropriate for distribution by the media to an advertisement distribution controller for performing distribution of advertisement data for mirroring purpose, wherein: 
 the advertisement data is transmitted to said advertisement distribution controller in said transmitting advertisement data before a trade for an advertisement opportunity is started in said performing a trading process; and    the advertisement data is stored in said advertisement distribution controller and is to be distributed on an advertisement opportunity by said advertisement distribution controller, in a case where a contract for the advertisement opportunity is settled.    
     
     
         34 . A computer-readable recording medium which stores a program for controlling a computer to function as: 
 advertisement data receiving means for receiving advertisement data from a sponsor who wants the advertisement data to be distributed on an advertisement opportunity;    advertisement data registering means for registering the advertisement data received by said advertisement data receiving means;    advertisement opportunity receiving means for receiving an advertisement opportunity offered by media;    advertisement opportunity registering means for registering the advertisement opportunity received by said advertisement opportunity receiving means;    advertisement opportunity publicizing means for publicizing information on the advertisement opportunity registered by said advertisement opportunity registering means via said communication network;    distribution accepting means for receiving information representing that distribution of the advertisement data is appropriate/inappropriate from the media when the sponsor selects the advertisement opportunity publicized by said advertisement opportunity publicizing means for distributing the advertisement data registered by said advertisement data registering means, and accepting an application for distribution of the advertisement data registered by said advertisement data registering means from the sponsor when determined that the information from the media represents that distribution is appropriate; and    a trade processing means for performing a process for trading the advertisement opportunity based on the application accepted by said distribution accepting means.    
     
     
         35 . The computer-readable recording medium according to  claim 34 , storing a program for controlling a computer to further function as advertisement data checking means for checking whether or not a genre of the advertisement data distribution of which on the advertisement opportunity the sponsor applies for corresponds to a prohibited genre which designates a genre which will not be distributed on the advertisement opportunity, and notifying a result of checking to the media.  
     
     
         36 . The computer-readable recording medium according to  claim 34 , storing a program for controlling a computer to further function as competition checking means for checking whether a plurality of sponsors compete in a same business category or not in a case where applications for distribution of advertisement data from the plurality of sponsors are accepted by said distribution accepting means for one advertisement opportunity, and permitting an application for distribution of advertisement data on the advertisement opportunity from only one sponsor for each business category among the plurality of sponsors in a case where competition exists among the plurality of sponsors.  
     
     
         37 . The computer-readable recording medium according to  claim 34 , storing a program for controlling a computer to further function as: 
 advertisement data mirroring means for transmitting advertisement data which is determined as appropriate for distribution by the media to advertisement distribution controlling means for performing distribution of advertisement data before a trade for an advertisement opportunity is started by said trade processing means; and    advertisement distribution controlling means for storing the transmitted advertisement data and performing distribution of the stored advertisement data which is to be distributed on an advertisement opportunity, in a case where a contract for the advertisement opportunity is settled.    
     
     
         38 . An advertisement distribution control apparatus which provides information and an advertisement to a terminal of an audience, said apparatus comprising: 
 distributing means for distributing an advertisement to said terminal of an audience from a market control server which intermediates between a sponsor of an advertisement and various kinds of media which distribute advertisements to facilitate a trade for an advertisement opportunity; and    storing means for receiving advertisement data to be provided to an audience from said market control server, and storing the received advertisement data,    wherein said distributing means starts distributing the advertisement data stored in said storing means to said terminal of an audience from a time set for the advertisement opportunity.    
     
     
         39 . An advertisement distribution control method for providing information and an advertisement to a terminal of an audience, said method comprising: 
 distributing an advertisement to said terminal of an audience from a market control server which intermediates between a sponsor of an advertisement and various kinds of media which distribute advertisements to facilitate a trade for an advertisement opportunity; and    receiving advertisement data to be provided to an audience from said market control server, and storing the received advertisement data,    wherein distribution of the advertisement data stored in said receiving and storing advertisement data to said terminal of an audience is started in said distributing from a time set for the advertisement opportunity.    
     
     
         40 . A computer-readable recording medium which stores a program for controlling a computer to function as: 
 distributing means for distributing an advertisement to said terminal of an audience from a market control server which intermediates between a sponsor of an advertisement and various kinds of media which distribute advertisements to facilitate a trade for an advertisement opportunity;    storing means for receiving advertisement data which is made of data regarding an advertisement to be provided to an audience from said market control server, and storing the received advertisement data; and    distribution starting means for starting distribution of the advertisement data stored in said storing means to said terminal of an audience from a time set for the advertisement opportunity.